Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    University Transformation
Sign In
Commentary

Why We Are Going to Duke

By David Yellen August 23, 2016
Protesters took their concerns about North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” to the State Legislative Building in May.
Protesters took their concerns about North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” to the State Legislative Building in May.Al Drago, CQ Roll Call, Getty Images

Marist College has been criticized for agreeing to play a basketball game at Duke University as part of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament in November. Some have suggested that we and other colleges should boycott North Carolina because of a controversial law enacted last spring requiring people to use only those public restrooms designated for the sex on their birth certificates. My own strong opinion is that this law was motivated by animosity toward LGBT people, is discriminatory, and should be repealed as soon as possible. However, I do not believe that colleges and universities should engage in boycotts in situations like this.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Protesters took their concerns about North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” to the State Legislative Building in May.
Protesters took their concerns about North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill” to the State Legislative Building in May.Al Drago, CQ Roll Call, Getty Images

Marist College has been criticized for agreeing to play a basketball game at Duke University as part of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament in November. Some have suggested that we and other colleges should boycott North Carolina because of a controversial law enacted last spring requiring people to use only those public restrooms designated for the sex on their birth certificates. My own strong opinion is that this law was motivated by animosity toward LGBT people, is discriminatory, and should be repealed as soon as possible. However, I do not believe that colleges and universities should engage in boycotts in situations like this.

Marist agreed in 2014 to play in the Naismith Tournament. After the so-called bathroom bill was enacted, New York’s governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, banned all nonessential state travel to North Carolina to protest the law. As a result, the University at Albany (a public institution) could no longer play its scheduled first-round game at Duke. The tournament rescheduled Albany to play at Penn State University and moved Marist from its original game to be Duke’s opponent. We did not seek this game, but after careful consideration, we accepted the new schedule.

Among its other provisions, the North Carolina law (1) forces transgender people using bathrooms in government buildings to use the bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate, and (2) prohibits cities in North Carolina from enacting local laws providing more legal protection based on gender or sexual orientation than exists under state law. It has been widely criticized and some individuals and organizations have taken actions to protest the law. For example, Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert planned for North Carolina, and the National Basketball Association moved its All-Star game from Charlotte.

Whether a broad economic boycott is the appropriate response to laws like this is a complicated question. In the 1950s and 1960s, leaders of the civil-rights movement did not urge a boycott of Southern states; they called for engagement and protest. A number of LGBT activists have urged a similar approach to North Carolina. In another historic struggle, leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa disagreed about whether a boycott or constructive engagement would best contribute to the dismantling of apartheid.

Even if an economic boycott is the appropriate political response to a particular situation, it does not necessarily follow that colleges should participate. There are both philosophical and practical reasons why they should not. The core purpose of a university is to foster learning, critical thinking, debate, and engagement, not to be a direct political actor. How could one even decide in which cases a boycott would reflect the will of a diverse college community? Whose views among students, staff, faculty, alumni, and trustees would be given primacy?

Even if an economic boycott is the appropriate political response to a particular situation, it does not necessarily follow that colleges should participate.

Boycotting here would also present a classic slippery-slope problem. If we boycott North Carolina, should we boycott other states with laws discriminating against the LGBT community? Although North Carolina has received the most attention, there are a number of other states that have reacted to the growing recognition of LGBT rights by enacting regressive, discriminatory laws.

Which countries around the world should be boycotted for the most extreme forms of anti-LGBT bias or other objectionable policies? Which other issues of social justice should lead us to boycott various states? Another issue that is very close to my heart is the racially discriminatory nature of many criminal-justice laws and practices around the country. Should we boycott every state with such laws? The list of such questions is endless.

There is a consensus within the academic community about these principles, which is why few, if any, colleges (other than the public institutions ordered to do so by their governors) have canceled any of the thousands of sporting events, artistic performances, cultural events, academic exchanges, student recruiting visits, and alumni events collectively scheduled in North Carolina each year. Marist and I would not hesitate to act first or alone if it were the right thing to do, but I simply do not believe that a boycott is the appropriate tactic for an academic institution.

Another argument that some have made is that, while a blanket boycott would not make sense, Marist should not have agreed to play in this particular game after the University at Albany withdrew because of Governor Cuomo’s order. I understand that point of view, and consider it a closer call than a blanket boycott. Ultimately, however, I believe that rejecting the tournament’s revised schedule would still amount to our engaging in a boycott of North Carolina, which we should not do.

Individuals, of course, can and should express their own views and take personal action as they see fit; that is the essence of a free society. As a longtime Bruce Springsteen fan, I admire the Boss for taking a stand on this issue. As a small statement of my own, I have made personal donations to the Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina to support their important work for LGBT rights. Some of us may also make some other visible sign of opposition to the law on November 11, the date of our game with Duke.

ADVERTISEMENT

I am very sorry that our participation in this basketball game leads some to doubt Marist’s and my commitment to LGBT rights, which I consider to be one of the most important human and civil-rights issues of our era. Like many other colleges, Marist has made great strides in recent years in supporting LGBT students and making our campus a welcoming and safe place. We have expanded support for LGBT groups on campus and in our local community. In June, representatives of the college participated in the New York City Pride parade, marching proudly behind the Marist banner for the first time. We can and will do more.

Our opposition to boycotting North Carolina should not be read as a lack of commitment to LGBT rights. To the contrary, the existence of laws like this one shows that much work remains to be done — and Marist will continue to participate in that urgent task.

David Yellen is president of Marist College.

A version of this article appeared in the September 9, 2016, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Gender
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Content

What Will College Be Like for a Transgender Student in North Carolina?
How North Carolina’s Ban on Anti-Bias Ordinances Could Affect Colleges
Video: N.C. ‘Bathroom Bill’ Is Discriminatory

More News

Mangan-Censorship-0610.jpg
Academic Freedom
‘A Banner Year for Censorship’: More States Are Restricting Classroom Discussions on Race and Gender
On the day of his retirement party, Bob Morse poses for a portrait in the Washington, D.C., offices of U.S. News and World Report in June 2025. Morse led the magazine's influential and controversial college rankings efforts since its inception in 1988. Michael Theis, The Chronicle.
List Legacy
‘U.S. News’ Rankings Guru, Soon to Retire, Reflects on the Role He’s Played in Higher Ed
Black and white photo of the Morrill Hall building on the University of Minnesota campus with red covering one side.
Finance & operations
U. of Minnesota Tries to Soften the Blow of Tuition Hikes, Budget Cuts With Faculty Benefits
Photo illustration showing a figurine of a football player with a large price tag on it.
Athletics
Loans, Fees, and TV Money: Where Colleges Are Finding the Funds to Pay Athletes

From The Review

A stack of coins falling over. Motion blur. Falling economy concept. Isolated on white.
The Review | Opinion
Will We Get a More Moderate Endowment Tax?
By Phillip Levine
Photo illustration of a classical column built of paper, with colored wires overtaking it like vines of ivy
The Review | Essay
The Latest Awful EdTech Buzzword: “Learnings”
By Kit Nicholls
William F. Buckley, Jr.
The Review | Interview
William F. Buckley Jr. and the Origins of the Battle Against ‘Woke’
By Evan Goldstein

Upcoming Events

Plain_Acuity_DurableSkills_VF.png
Why Employers Value ‘Durable’ Skills
Warwick_Leadership_Javi.png
University Transformation: A Global Leadership Perspective
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin